Gov. Chris Christie denies being threatened on plane delayed five hours in San Francisco

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was threatened by another passenger aboard his flight from San Francisco to Boston Friday morning.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denied he was threatened by another passenger aboard his flight from San Francisco to Boston Friday morning.

A person had said something to the Republican presidential candidate just as the United Airlines flight was preparing to take off from San Francisco International Airport around 8:30 a.m., WXFT-TV reported. Christie's campaign later disputed those reports as the flight took off for Boston nearly five hours after its scheduled departure.

The pilot had announced the aircraft was returning to gate for "operational difficulties" and, after a 45-minute wait, passengers exited the plane five at a time for security checks, the TV station reported. The flight was boarding to depart for Boston by around 1 p.m. local time, airport spokesman Doug Yakel told the Daily News.

Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks at an October rally in Iowa. He was reportedly threatened aboard a plane Friday morning. (MARK KAUZLARICH/REUTERS)

Yakel declined to comment on what exactly had happened but said that the aircraft was taxiing when it returned to the gate "to remove a passenger."

A spokeswoman for Christie's campaign, Maria Comella, said in a statement that Christie had not spoken with the passenger who was removed from the governor's flight.

"At no point did Governor Christie interact with this passenger nor did this passenger pose a verbal or physical threat to the Governor," Comella said, directing all other inquiries about the incident to United. The campaign postponed a house party in New Hampshire that had been scheduled for Friday night.

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Jonathan Guerin, a spokesman for United, released a statement about the incident Friday afternoon.

"United Airlines is working to accommodate customers of Flight 1108 to Boston after the flight was delayed in San Francisco due to a disruptive customer on board. The flight will depart this afternoon."